You Don't Know Jack..
The following is a collection of stories concerning the past antics of the figure known as Jack Of All Trades - set before the events that would lead to Red's conquest of Wonderland these are dark and disturbing stories designed to show just how dangerous and twisted Jack can be.. Little Jack Horner Little Jack Horner Sat in the corner, Eating a Christmas pie; He put in his thumb, And pulled out a plum, And said 'What a good boy am I!' The following tale hails from the Era of Snow White, the second Monarch of Wonderland - who took over following Queen Alice's death. It was a cold winter's eve when Mary Horner arrived home from her usual visit to the village market, having three mouths to feed and a husband who long abandoned her she had little choice but to brave the freezing cold whilst she left her two young children in the care of her eldest son Jack. Entering the small log cabin Mary saw the fire was already lit and smiled slightly, looking around she spotted Jack sitting alone in the corner of the room - with a Christmas pie, she didn't think much of this and smiled to her son. "Hello Jack, how is your brother and sister?". Jack did not reply to his mother, busying himself with his pie as he continued to sit in the corner, Mary's smile faded as she noticed Jack abnormal behavior and she asked again. "Jack? how are your brother and sister? Jack? answer me!". It was then Mary became aware of a frightening thing, the door to the children's room was ajar - yet oddly silent, panicking Mary rushed into the room and let out a cry at the scene that awaited her. Both her daughter and youngest son were dead, sitting upright on little chairs and dressed in smart clothing - a child's tea cup and kettle sat on a small table and the pair stared lifelessly into space, as if frozen in a nightmarish tea party. As Mary broke down into a fit of tears little Jack Horner simply smiled as he dug his thumb into the Christmas pie and pulled out a large plum: "What a good boy am I!" Jack and Jill Jack and Jill went up the hill To fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown, And Jill came tumbling after. The following tale hails from the Era of Cinderella, the third Monarch of Wonderland - who took over following Queen Snow White's death. It was a quiet summer's afternoon when Jack and Jill decided to climb a hill in order to collect some water from an old well, Jill's parents having grown ill and thus depending on her to do much of the daily chores. Jack was older than Jill but the two were good friends regardless, in fact although she rarely admitted it Jill found herself increasingly attracted to the adventurous youth who was always eager to help her. As Jack filled one of the pails with water Jill decided to act on her attraction and confessed her love to Jack, who smiled and confessed a mutual attraction - sealing it with a kiss that made Jill's heart flutter. Jill was so happy that she thought little of when Jack asked her to take the pail of water and turned to go down the hill, only to suddenly cry out in surprise as Jack dove at her from behind - unbalancing her and the pair tumbled down the hillside. Jill died as her head hit several rocks on the way down but Jack managed to stand up, rubbing a slight bruise on his forehead - looking to Jill and smiling slightly as he whispered a simple line: "..This is my story now..". That night Jill's parents would be confronted with Jack, carrying their daughter in his arms and looking deeply distraught - in his words she was the victim of a terrible accident. In the following days a few questioned Jack's story - yet after a while the questions stopped and Jill's fate was put down to ill-luck.. as for Jack, he would continue to bring pails of water to Jill's parents until the day they died: in gratitude they left what little worldly goods they had to Jack - the "protector" of their only daughter.. Jack Be Nimble.. Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack jump over The candlestick The following tale hails from the Era of Rapunzel, the fourth Monarch of Wonderland - who took over following Queen Cinderella's death. The sun shone bright one Thursday afternoon as a young man by the name of Jack arrived in the sleepy village of Tinkertown - for several weeks the area had been experiencing severe drought due to the relentless sun: which had in turn destroyed life-giving crops and the villagers began to grow increasingly reliant on the Monarchy to provide supplies from neighboring kingdoms. Jack observed this in silence and looked up at the sun, which continued burning high above the village - showing no signs of stopping. It was then that Jack was called upon by an old man, motioning him into a small hut - the man went by the name of Theodore and it was he who called on Jack's services in the first place. Hurrying Jack inside Theodore thanked the young man for being so quick to arrive and began to pack several crates full of candles, the hot sun already beginning to melt them - Theodore was a candlemaker by trade and his wares were to be taken to the Monarchy as part of the village's fee for the supplies they required to survive. Theodore had just finished packing the third crate when he noted to Jack that he had to attend an important meeting in the village square - asking Jack to finish the packing and take the crates to a waiting caravan Theodore made his way out, Jack waving him off. Yet as Theodore left Jack was quick to close the door and look around at the hut, the crates stacked up and numerous candles laying around the room. Jack shrugged slightly as he picked a candle up and stared at it in silence, the candle suddenly burst into flame and Jack tossed it to the floor - the flame soon spread across the entire room and engulfed everything in sight, even Jack himself. As the hut burst into flames Jack simply stood in the flame, his entire body now little more than a charred skeleton - yet standing up in defiance of nature: thick black smoke spreading over the sky. From the village square Theodore was quick to be alerted to the smoke as the villagers rushed out, the flames from the hut spreading to nearby homes - the villagers gathering what little defences they had as they tried in desperation to stop the fire. As Theodore rushed to the hut he was held back, the flames soon causing the hut to collapse in on itself - it was then Theodore saw a terrible sight: the now skeletal Jack walking out of the ruined hut, his body still ablaze and carrying what looked like an axe made of burning ash and molten flame. The villagers panicked as they fled from the apparition before them, the burning skeleton suddenly leaping into the air and landing atop the roof of the village's small chapel, hacking at the roof with the axe and setting the building ablaze. Theodore watched in horror as the entire village burned, at least until he was taken away by the crowds as the villagers fled into the surrounding countryside - yet as they fled their homes the skies grew dark and the sun disappeared for the first time in weeks. The skeletal Jack looked to the sky as rain began to pour down upon the village and sang a song that echoed across the area - haunting the dreams of the villagers for days to come: "Why run away like frightened mice? When good old Jack has been so nice -''' '''to remove the drought that left you so bare, can't you see how much I care? The Monarchy demanded a fee -''' '''for what I have given to you for free! so come on back, rebuild your shack -''' '''and remember that all stories belong to Jack" Jack Sprat Jack Sprat could eat no fat. His wife could eat no lean. And so between them both, you see, They licked the platter clean The following tale hails from the Era of Prince Charming, the fifth Monarch of Wonderland - who took over following Queen Rapunzel's death. Joan Sprat was a very large woman, due to her unhealthy obsession with eating only the most fatty of foods - this was in stark contrast to her small, skinny husband known as Jack Sprat. You see Jack Sprat had almost the exact opposite mentality of Joan and could only eat food that had undergone intense study to ensure it was of high nutritional value. The two often argued over their peculiar eating habits and their quarrels seemed neverending, earning much interest from surrounding villagers. In time this constant bickering seemed to eat away at Jack and Joan's already fragile sanity and one day Jack conversed with his wife, convincing her to end the arguing and sharing with her a solution to their woes. The villagers were pleased at first as Jack and Joan seemed to put their differences aside and with their quarrelling finally put to an end they were able to concentrate more on their small shop, which specialized in hand-made dinnerware. Yet it didn't take long for things to turn sour as the village began to experience an alarming rise in the number of missing people - the old and ill, mostly, as well as visitors from other realms and vagrants. Authorities soon came down upon the village and performed checks on every household and business, it took less than two days for them to come across a terrible scene at the back of Jack and Joan's small shop. It was a scene that made even the most hardened of the Royal Guards recoil slightly, a room filled with many bodies - cut up and hung on hooks, a plate of fat lay on one side of a table whilst another plate had fresh meat with the fat removed. The guards quickly captured Joan and had her taken to the Royal Dungeon as they made a search for Jack Sprat - who had went missing, Joan claiming her husband would never be caught and that "the fat was delicious": the woman having lost what little mind she had and sneering at her gaolers. Indeed despite exhaustive efforts the authorities could not track down the elusive Jack Sprat and had to make do with Joan - who remained in the Palace Dungeon for the remainder of her days, the small shop were she and her husband had butchered so many was promptly burnt to the ground by order of the Monarchy. Jack and The Beanstalk The following tale hails from the Era of Mother Hubbard, the sixth Monarch of Wonderland - who took over following Prince Charming's death. There was once a widow who lived alone in what was once her family farm with her son, Jack - due to the loss of her husband and Jack's inability to secure a decent job or harvest properly the widow found herself living in poverty and decided to sell the family cow in order to at least earn some income. Entrusting Jack with the task of taking the cow to market the widow was most displeased when her son returned him early with a bag of beans, which he had traded from an old man in a tophat near the crossroads, who said they would solve all their problems - in anger she tossed the beans outside and went to bed, leaving Jack to his own devices. Yet the next morning the widow was greeted to a shocking sight, a massive beanstalk many times the size of any found in nature had sprouted overnight and ascended to the sky - to her horror Jack had already began to climb it and ignored her pleas to come down, promising he would return with the solution to all their problems: just as the old man in the tophat had promised. Thinking her son had gone mad the widow spent many hours worrying until eventually Jack returned, carrying a golden harp and a goose in a basket, surrounded by golden eggs. The widow was amazed at this and asked Jack how he came across such treasures, to which Jack simply pointed upwards - it was then the widow let out a shriek and ran for cover as a massive corpse fell down, crashing against the nearby fields and shaking the ground. When the shaking stopped the widow came out from hiding, her eyes wide with shock as she looked over the dead giant - an axe plunged between the creature's brow, although small to the giant there were numerous other wounds across its form. Looking to Jack the widow grew sad, yet Jack simply smiled and told the widow not to mourn the giant - that she had earned her happy ending.. yet the widow rejected Jack's words and stated a happy ending earned at the expense of another was wrong. At this Jack simply broke into a laugh and replied: "mother dear, so full of woe - you shouldn't worry about right or wrong.. you see, this is my story now..". Jack then proceeded to slay the widow and set her corpse by the beanstalk, setting it on fire - as the beanstalk fell it crashed into the widow's old home, setting it ablaze and Jack hid the golden harp and the goose just before authorities arrived. Seeing the destruction the guards were quick to question Jack, who claimed the giant had arrived and attacked his home - that he had no choice but to fight back.. the guards were doubtful of Jack's tale and set to arrest the youth when a tall man in a tophat arrived on the scene. The mysterious man spoke of Jack, of how he had tried to save his farm from the giant - with this new figure's words things changed and Jack was set free: in time he would earn the title of Jack the Giant-Killer and was given a new home by the Monarchy for his bravery and to make up for his tragic loss. No one knew that as Jack moved to his new home the golden harp and goose were handed in secret to the tall man in the tophat - who vanished into the night. The House That Jack Built The following tale hails from the Era of the Frog Prince, the eight Monarch of Wonderland - who took over following the overthrow of the tyrant Jack Frost. There once was a poor farmer who lived alone in a little wooden hut, struggling to survive as his crop failed to grow - one day the farmer was approached by a young man named Jack who offered him a small fortune in exchange for his hut and surrounding land. The farmer gladly took the fortune and bid Jack farewell, not bothering to look back as he fled to parts unknown - leaving Jack to tend to the hut. Jack quickly had the hut removed and built a grand house atop it, gathering great crowds as he continually added to it until it resembled a maze - yet he was not content with this and soon had a large garden formed around the impressive house, it too was designed much like a maze and the crowds began to whisper of witchcraft as they saw the once barren land transform before their eyes. Jack would finish his work in no more than three weeks and began to invite curious villagers to explore his home and its surrounding garden - each time a group of visitors would leave, yet one of the group would disappear. For several days this continued until eventually authorities arrived to investigate the disappearances, Jack claimed the visitors must of become lost and offered to guide the authorities around his property - which he did and they could find no misdeed, thus they left but had Jack stop all future tours of his property until the missing people were found. The following day authorities would be called to the property once more by horrified villagers as the impressive structure was set ablaze, outside lay three bodies - attached to each was a note that read a rhyme that continues to be told to this day: :"This is the house that Jack built. :This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. :This is the rat that ate the malt :That lay in the house that Jack built. :This is the cat that killed the rat :That ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. :This is the dog that worried the cat :That killed the rat that ate the malt :That lay in the house that Jack built." Category:Grimdark Category:Fantasy Category:Historical Category:Little-Red Category:Finished Stories